Burdens
by RebbieChan
Summary: Lin finds out Suyin has been skipping class. First flashback (Su 12, Lin 18) time period.


**Burdens**

Lin stormed home, her fists clenched tight. She wished she could say that she couldn't believe what she had heard, but she could and she did. She ripped open the front door. Suyin was sitting at the table with a bowl of rice and an open notebook. Lin strode up to her and placed her fists on her hips. "why weren't you at school today?"

"You do know I get let out before the police academy does, right?" Su said blandly, looking up from her notebook.

"Don't start Su. said he caught you and your friends behind the school with moongrass."

Suyin put down her pencil. "did he also tell you that I hadn't been smoking it?"

"Only because you got caught before you had the chance."

The younger sister shot to her feet. "Were you there, Lin? What do you know! I was just there as lookout!"

"And that's any better?"

"Uh, yes? I didn't do anything wrong." Suyin folded her arms across her chest. "You're always trying to make me look bad!

"How about, when was the last time you actually went to class Su?" Lin demanded. "It's disrespectful for you to trick mom with your report cards, but you can't fool me I know you're failing."

"First off _you're_ the only one who cares about my grades, mom even said we can choose whether or not we go to school. And two, not everybody is straight-A miss perfect like you!"

"Do you think that was easy for me? I worked hard for those grades, you don't even try!" That was what frustrated Lin the most. She had always struggled to do well, but school came naturally to Su. That is, whenever she actually bothered to show up. She, of course, also neglected to mention that as a kid she got into fights nearly every day for one thing or another and was happy that it was something Su didn't remember.

"I don't have to try!" Suyin glowered at her sister for a moment before sitting back down again and angrily taking a mouthful of rice.

"Fine! Don't get an education! Then what are you going to do for a living, sell drugs?"

Rice dropped from Suyin's mouth. "where the hell did that come from? I'm friends with people who did it once and suddenly I'm a drug dealer?"

Suyin had a point, but Lin could only feel herself getting angrier. "If you keep doing favors for your so called friends!"

Suyin narrowed her eyes. "At least I don't have to sleep with people to get them to be friends with me."

She had caught Lin by surprise. Her confident demeanor faltered for a moment. She felt her face heating up. "first of all," She sputtered out, "If you're referring about Tenzin, we aren't even dating, AND there are…certain _things_ in Air Nomad Culture that-"

"Come on Lin, don't lie to me and tell me you haven't." A smirk came to her face, seeing her sister squirm like that. It was rare for Su to see her sister anything but grumpy or mad lately.

Lin let out a frustrated growl, feeling like the heat under her cheeks would rip through her skin. She should have never told her sister she had a crush on Tenzin. "And _second_ he's not my only friend, there's Izumi and Kya, Bumi."

"When was the last time you even saw them?" Suyin scoffed.

It had been a long time. Nearly a year since she had seen either of them. Kya had begun traveling a few years ago and stopped in from time to time, Bumi had his military duties, while Izumi was always busy as heir to the Fire Nation throne. And yes, Kya and Izumi had always been much closer than she had ever been with any of them. And maybe the last time the both of them were in Republic City they hadn't come to see her, but she hadn't been available anyway.

"Just shut up and take this seriously for once!"

Su feign a pout. "Oh, did your feelings get hurt?"

That was it. That last snotty little remark and something snapped. She grabbed Suyin by the arm and yanked her out into the backyard. Unlike most backyards their high fences didn't surround lush grasses and flower beds but bed of dirt and rock formations. Lin let her protesting sister go. She could feel herself shaking. She knew she had to calm down, that she should just go back inside.

"What's your problem?" Suyin shouted. "You know what – I was actually trying to copy the class notes I missed in there!"

Lin pressed a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes, counting backwards silently. Her temper had got the best of her. She shook her head and turned to go back inside, hopefully drink some tea and calm herself in her room.

"What are you going to do?" Suyin shouted, "Lock me out here!" Lin didn't respond. "Hey!" Steamed, Suyin shot a stone at the back of her sister's head.

Lin stumbled forward, hand reflexively going to the back of her head. She turned hard, stomping her feet into the earth. A row of square ended pillars shot up towards Su. The younger sister threw her arms up in defense, using her bending to crumble the attack before her. Lin was hesitating whether to continue or not, glancing between the door and her sister. Suyin wouldn't hesitate, she had to get the last hit in no matter what.

Suyin thrust sprays of small rocks in three quick groups. The first Lin sidestepped, the second hit their mark and the third was crushed by a rock wall screaming back at her. The wall hit her hard and Su was knocked back onto the ground, the wind knocked out of her.

She sat up slowly, thinking Lin had gone back inside to sulk. Instead, when she looked up, she saw that Lin was coming closer. "Go away!" She shouted, slamming her arm down, rolling the earth under Lin's feet.

Her sister was quick and crushed the oncoming attack, spraying Suyin in dust and pebbles. Suyin moved to try something else, but Lin grabbed her arm and locked her legs around hers, preventing movement. "Let go!" She shouted. With her free arm, she elbowed Lin in the stomach.

The two toppled to the ground, but Lin's grip didn't falter. She had learned the technique from another officer, a physical lock-hold in case they came into an altercation with another metal bender. "Let _go!_" Suyin shouted, struggling against her sister to no avail. Lin only held her tighter. "Stop it!" Lin had the girl's arm twisted at an odd angle, crushing it between herself and her own arm. Suyin swung her free arm wildly until she found Lin's face and tried pushing her back and jabbing her in the eyes.

"Quit it and I'll let go!"

"Ow! You're going to break my arm!"

"What are you two doing!"

Instantly Lin broke her hold on her sister and rolled onto her knees. Their mother stood before them, her posture and voice enough to make her stomach roll. Suyin didn't suffer from the same affect. At Lin's relinquish, she flipped over and lunged at her, wrapping her arms around her neck and knocking her to the ground again.

After a moment of shouting, cursing and struggle, Toph grabbed Suyin by the back of her shirt and Lin by the shoulder and ripped the two of them apart. "A little fighting is fine but the two of you are actually trying to hurt each other!" She shouted, "What happened?"

"Lin came in and-!"

"Suyin at school today-!"

The both of them shouted over one another.

"One at a time! Lin!"

Suyin glared at her sister, but kept silent.

Lin glared back, for a moment losing herself in her anger. "Suyin's being a little shit!"

Suyin's mouth dropped open. "Lin said that I-!

"The both of you are little shits, now both of you shut your mouths unless you're going to tell me what happened!"

The both of them fell silent. Lin's face left hot again, embarrassed by what she had said. She hadn't meant to, it just slipped out. She had been so mad, sometimes it felt like she couldn't control it. The sisters glared at each other. Neither said a word.

Toph let her girls go and tapped her foot impatiently, frown growing on her face. "Su," she spoke evenly, "you go first."

"I was just working on my homework and Lin comes bursting in, claiming a whole bunch of things that never happened, then she throws me outside and starts beating into me."

"That's not remotely what happened!" Lin protested. "She attacked me first! And all I said was that I saw-"

"_you _saw? You're changing your story!"

"You admitted to it!"

"To doing nothing!"

"_Enough!"_

Toph slammed down her foot, sending both girls on their backs. Soon Lin was tripping and ducking under a series of flying rocks. Her sister deflected a shot and shouted in protest, "what are you doing!"

"Mom! Quit it!" Lin copied Su's move to regain her footing. Standing firm and unyielding was the first rule of earthbending and she had already managed to screw that up. She set her feet and knocked the oncoming attacks away, sliding her feet to the side when necessary, certain not to let her feet leave the ground.

To her right, Su did the opposite, moving in light, circular motions as if bending was some kind of dance. She just had to be different.

Their mother churned up the earth in a zagging line towards each of them. She stepped out of the way but Su wasn't paying attention. Lin slid her foot in her sister's direction, pushing the earth underneath the girl's feet to slide her out of the way.

Suyin lost her footing and fell. "What'd you do that for?!" Su shouted, thrusting a pillar at Lin.

"I was protecting you, you idiot!" Lin shouted back, rocketing her sister in the shoulder with one of Toph's shots.

"You're the idiot!"

Toph stopped both her girl's assaults at once, silencing the two of them. "Some sisters you are," she barked, "you can't even unite under a common enemy!" She turned her back on them and waved her hand absently in the air. "What good are you?"

Lin ducked her head and waited until Toph went back inside. She was disappointed in them, in _her, _again. She clenched her fists. She had been _trying_ to help Su, _she_ just didn't get it! Lin stormed inside to her room and slammed the door.

Why did Su have to always be the one to make her look bad! Even though it was her who was always doing something wrong! Lin threw herself on her bed and pulling her knees up to her chest, burying her face. Somehow she had managed to upset her mom _again._ She had every right to be, Lin knew it and she hated it. _She_ had let thing escalate, _she _had lost her temper, _she _couldn't figure out how to deal with Su in a constructive way.

An hour or so passed of Lin sulking and looking back at the situation and trying to see what went wrong or what could have happen. She came up with nothing. She always did.

"Are you gonna just sit there and brood all day?" Suyin's voice came from the window behind her. "You know mom didn't a_ctually_ send us to our rooms."

Lin knew from the tone in her sister's voice that she had gone and done the exact thing as her and holed herself up in her room either as a self-proclaimed penance or in self-righteous frustration. "What are you doing out there, mom-"

"Mom isn't even home." Suyin crawled inside and sat next to her on the bed. "What do you expect, it's not like _she_ cares."

"She does care," Lin tried to reassure her, "she just…"

"Doesn't know what to do with us." Su finished for her. She pulled her knees up as well, mirroring Lin's position. After a moment she looked away. "Do you think she ever really wanted kids?"

"Su-"

"I'm serious! We're just a burden." Su's voice became low and quiet, "there's no use trying to impress someone who isn't paying attention."

Lin leaned her head back against the wall. Even though she could remember all the good times and all the fun the three of them had when she was younger, or the smile her mom had when Lin had taught Su how to read, or how much she genuinely believed Toph enjoyed teaching them bending, she felt what her sister said. She felt it far too often and it sucked.

She glanced over at Suyin and smiled. They fought, they disagreed, way too often and took it way too far, but they were still the only other person either of them had to really talk to. Suyin had been the one to enrage her, but she had been the one to calm her down.

Lin gave Su a light punch on the shoulder. "You're not a burden to me, kid."


End file.
